India’s Ministry of Steel has proposed lowering of railway freight charges for iron ore in a bid to provide some relief to local steel mills from rising input costs, a senior government official said on Monday.
He said that the Ministry of Steel, in a proposal to the Ministry of Railways, which owns and operates Indian Railways, has suggested that iron ore transportation costs for local steel mills should be reduced in range of 10-15 percent to enable mills to cope with rising costs of other inputs.
One of the ways to reduce iron ore transportation charges is to bring it at par with lower freight rates applicable in case of coal and other raw materials, the official said.